Providing pre and postnatal support and advice for you and your baby

Swaddle- Love to dream

How babies sleep settle and what helps them can be very different from one baby to the next.

Not all babies sleep well swaddled.

Not all babies like the patting and shushing as this can actually overstimulate them.

This is especially so for the love to dream swaddle.

Many new mum buy this type of swaddle/sleeping sac for their newborn babies.

For very newborn babies under the age of 2 weeks these swaddles can be great.

However as your baby grows stronger, becomes more aware of their environment and is starting to stretch and move around a little more. These swaddles can be more of a hinderance than a great sleep tool.

Babies love to stretch out their hands above their head just like us when we wake.

As you can see by the picture there isn’t much room for your baby to stretch and there is limited amount of movement especially when your baby is growing.

I find babies grow out of these suits very quickly.

Also when you are finding that when your baby wakes with very wet material around their hands, they are looking at sucking for self soothing which is best done by skin to skin contact. It’s at this time getting rid of the swaddle altogether and transferring your baby to a sleeping bag is your best option.

It may take a few days for your baby to get used to a little more freedom but they will thank you for it as they can find their fingers or thumbs to suck for self settling and also stretch and move without limitations.

If your baby is a dream sleeper in this type of swaddle then why change.

Just keep in mind that when they are changing their sleep patterns that it could be they are needing a change of sleep attire.

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6 thoughts on “Swaddle- Love to dream”

Hi
My son is 8 weeks old and sleeps in one of these, he wakes every 3 hours and loves to suck his hand! Is it too soon to be unswaddling him? Should he be in a hands down swaddle? Interested to know? As would love some longer sleeps!

Hi Morgan, yes I believe this is a perfect time to remove the swaddle, in particular if you are using the love to dream. Babies will suck theirs hands for comfort and for settling . Your baby may find it interesting to have their hands free but will soon love the ability to sooth independently. The one piece of advice I can give you though is make sure you trust your intuition. Babies who consistently suck on their fingers are commonly mistaken for being hungry which is not always the case. They will also make a lot of sucking noises at night and will not be hungry just transitioning from one sleep cycle to the next. I hope this has given you some piece of mind. Regards Trish

Hi Trish, my 5.5 month old is still in his love to dream swaddle and I just cannot get him to settle out of it. His arms flail and he gets so upset. It’s obviously well overdue to get him out of it but we can’t get him to sleep! Any ideas on making the transition? Thank you .

Because your baby has been in the love to dream swaddle for quite sometime now it will be very foreign for him to know what to do wiht his arms when you remove it. In saying that I would remove it as soon as you can ad don’t look back. You may have already done this but the startle reflex always looks more challenging for the parents than it actually is for babies. Give him time to explore and find his hands and manage them in his own time. It won’t take long until he can confidently sleep and manage is motor skills once out of the swaddle.

I’m away at camp at the moment with limited coverage so unfortunately I’m unable to do a live.

So I thought I would give you some steps to help babies or I guess toddlers who are over 12 months.

If your toddler is waking up frequently at night or struggling to go to sleep.

Negative attention🤔

I know it can be very frustrating when they just don’t settle or wake up frequently but try not to show them your frustration or even anger. It’s still attention for them.

Make it boring🤭

It is crucial that you don’t have a conversation with them. Any attention is attention and an incentive to stay up or chat to you.

No stays No 😬

When they ask for water, a snack, a cuddle and you have given in once but said no the second time make sure you say no the 3rd, 4th,5th etc etc They will push the boundaries as far as they can go till you crumble.

Star Chart ⭐️⭐️

Yes they love rewards and star charts. The bigger the chart the better. Make it visual. Get them to put the stars or stickers on and praise praise praise. Don’t wait to long for them to get a reward or they will loose interest. Three stars gives them a reward.

Food 🥘

Unfortunately if they have milk feeds then this is the one thing that will keep them up simply because their system is used to burning calories at night, organs aren’t at rest and they are probably going through more nappies than need be. ...

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